48 Hours in Curacao; Netherland Antilles

Colorful Curacao

While we only spent a few hours in Curacao, as part of a recent Celebrity cruise, I've already booked a trip to go back! There are far more things to do than can fill a port day or even 48 Hours. Our 48 Hours series is designed to give cruisers or people with a short leisure or business trip to a destination some ideas about what to see and do during a short stay. We hope you enjoy this photo essay and ideas about what to “go see” and do in colorful Curacao during your visit.

How We Got Here…

Curacao is part of the Netherland Antilles, along with Bonaire and Aruba, colonies of the Netherlands. The Arawak settled there first, long before the Europeans. The Spanish were next, but eventually Curacao became a trading base port for the Dutch West India Company. Today, I felt Curacao seemed very familiar after having been to the Netherlands, with it’s colonial architecture and developed inner waterways feeling very European. A well fortified city during colonial times, the old walls and fortresses have been converted to a vibrant, colorful district of upscale shops, bars, cafes and filled with local art that celebrates the Caribbean colors and culture.

Walking Tour from Cruise Port

For cruisers, Curacao, where your ship will likely dock in Willemstad, and you can easily walk to see the attractions. The beauty of Curacao is that in most cases, the development is local shops and restaurants and not the same old chains you find in many Caribbean ports. You can follow my Google walking tour and explore so much in just little more than a mile from your ship.

Get To a Beach

There are several popular beaches. Mambo Beach is just east of the cruise port, a 10 min taxi ride ( 3 miles away) and has development around the beach, restaurants, shops and bars. Blue Bay and Kokomo beaches are west of the Willamstad about a 20 minute cab ride away.

Get Under Water

Curacao is well known for its diving culture. There are lots of outfitters who will provide equipment and a boat to dive sites. Folks who aren’t certified to dive, can find snorkel tours and boat tours to enjoy the coast. There are even glass bottom boats for people who don’t want to get wet at all!

Have A Little More Time?

With more evening hours than a ship cruiser might have, you can enjoy the fun nightlife in the Pietermaai district, an entertainment district that many locals also call home. With few large “resorts” Curacao is a great place to stay in a small boutique hotel.

Stories From The Hawaiian Islands Hawaii

Incredible Manta Rays off the island of Hawaii

They look like machines, not like animals, but manta rays are real and one of the most amazing wildlife experiences I’ve ever had.

As part of our Uncruise aboard Safari Explorer in the Hawaiian islands, we had an excursion with Blue Wilderness Tours out of Kona. There are several options for night snorkeling with manta rays, but this outfitter was selected by our Uncruise expedition leader for a private excursion.

We were outfitted with wetsuits, not because the Pacific Ocean is any colder at night than when we are folicking in it during the day, but observing manta rays requires sitting still for 30 minutes in the dark water, and it can feel chilly.

Squeezed into out wet suits, we are ready to explore the ocean at night

As we board our skiffs, and head to the snorkel spot, we see an eerie yellow green glow emanating from the bottom of a specially tricked out surf board. We get our masks and snorkels in place and slip into the inky ocean. Tonight, we won’t wear fins since about 6 or 8 of us will be hanging onto a surf board outfitted with a powerful light directed down into the ocean, and we don’t want to be either kicking each other or the manta rays we came to see!

As I slip into black water, I have a moment of anxiety. The water does feel colder than any of the beaches I was on earlier, even though it’s not, but I feel cozy in my wetsuit. I’m always aware that the ocean is a wilderness, but being surrounded by water filled with unseen wildlife when I can only see what’s in the small pool of light under the surfboard is unnerving.

And seeing what IS there seems to only heighten my anxiety; tiny, translucent zooplankton, the worlds simplest animals are teeming in the light. My skin starts crawling thinking that I am swimming among these tiny creatures, each one shaped and moving in a unique way. Larger sea worms with hundreds of legs propelling it around the ocean swim within inches of my mask. I fell like I need a immediate shower to rinse these plankton out of my bathing suit!

Millions of plankton, visible and microscopic live and swim in the ocean. All of these specs are individual animals (or plants) that move around the ocean feeding on light or smaller plankton also attracted to the light!

Our hope is that the manta rays will be attracted to the plankton and join us to feed under the lit surf board, completely unbothered by us watching from above. In a sense we are “feeding” the mantas by painting light in the areas where we are to attract the plankton! All of these creatures were in the sea during the day when I was I swimming in broad daylight, but I just couldn’t see them. So I took a deep breath through my snorkel and concentrate on the marvel of this undersea world seldom ever see! I concentrated on how each of these tiny creatures moved themselves through the water…some with tiny frilling fins, others by expelling water, some with thousand of cilia gently tickling the water. Within minutes, I’m relaxed and fascinated by the diversity of the life in front of my mask!

During the day I snorkeled with all the same creatures, but it took the concentrated light and dark ocean to really see them all! (snorkeling at the wharf in Maui)

Once my heart rate settled and I started marvel and appreciate the undersea world around me, we were treated to the “main event”. Within a few minutes a large male manta ray, began feeding under the surf board. I was struck by how they look more like machines, not like animals, but manta rays are real and one of the most amazing wildlife experiences I’ve ever had.

They swim by gracefully moving their large wing like fins. They use smaller fins near their mouths to move plankton into their mouths, and as they loop through the water, rolling over and over again, plankton rich water passes through filtering gills that make them look more like a robot vacuum than a relative to sharks.

We learned from our guides, that manta Rays are mobula, related to sharks but also, like whales in that give birth to live young, and filter feed. Although their pups will nurse inside the female manta, they are independent immediately after being expelled during birth, where whales will stay with and nurse their young externally for many months.

Each ray is identifiable by the markings on its underside and they can be as large as 24 feet wide at their wingspan. The ray that visited us was about 14 feet wide, massive, and breathtaking to watch as it looped over and over again under the surf board filling its gills with water.

During our half hour observing the ray, we witnessed it’s ability to use it’s senses to come within inches of our bodies and never touch us, it was the most incredibly graceful animal, looping over and over again under our surf board often just inches from our masks.

Despite my initial freak out about being in the cold, dark water with all kinds of creepy swimmy things, observing a huge manta ray feeding in the wild, unconcerned about us floating above it, I knew I was experiencing something very special and I was truly engaged every minute. I was just hoping it would continue to stay and feed for us to watch!

After our half hour was up, we removed our masks and snorkels and clambered back aboard our skiff and went back to the Safari Explorer, where the very first thing I did was have a shower!!

Manta Pacific is a non profit research organization that keeps track of the mantas and has named many of them and does research and conservation. There’s also a Manta Research center near the Sheraton Hotel in Kona that welcomes visitors.

Written by Kathy Klofft

Photography and Videography by Jeff Klofft

The Mantas are completely silent, any sound you hear in the video is the sound of the camera bumping into the surfboard. Youtube link to Manta Video

Stories From The Hawaiian Islands Maui

Maui

Do Whale Sightings Require Losing an Anchor!? Apparently so!

In 2018, we sailed to Southeast Alaska on Uncruise Safari Endeavor. (see our Alaska report here) One day, the anchor got stuck and could not be raised. We spent a good part of day, stuck at anchor instead of cruising for "charismatic megafuana" in the inside passage. (This is Uncruise speak for larger marine mammals and land mammals, things that realllly get people excited, like whales and bears!) While we awaited a solution to the "stuck" anchor in Alaska, the "charismatic mega fauna" came to US! And the sunset created the most amazing scenery. Despite being initially disappointed that the ship was "stuck", the evening turned out to be amazing BECAUSE we were "stuck" in the middle of the most amazing landscapes and habitat! Finally, the anchor was "cut" and we made our way onto Glacier Bay!

Our trip to Hawaii was our third, very successful Uncruise, the Uncruise in Baja went off without a hitch, so we never expected to lose yet ANOTHER anchor in Hawaii!

We spent several days cruising in the so called “Hawaiian Bathtub, an area of the Pacific Ocean surrounded by the islands of Molokai, Lanai, Maui and the uninhabited island of Kaho’olawe. The area is generally very calm because the islands create an area of calm by blocking wind and capturing weather systems so they don’t make it to the water.

map from DK Eyewitness

The plan had been for the Safari Explorer to anchor for the night. The captain was aware of a storm arriving and carefully considered the weather when deciding where to anchor, choosing to anchor in the lee of one of the inhabited islands where we could ride out the storm in relative calm. Unfortunately, the storm changed direction and while we were at anchor overnight, we rolled and pitched with the storm all night long.

I was rolling like a hot dog in a frying pan all night long!

Many passengers were sick and took medication, fortunately, we never felt ill, but I also couldn't sleep because of all the motion. At one point we heard a huge snapping sound, that we couldn't identify. Was it a wave that hit us or debris? We stayed safely in our bed, to avoid falling and limited trips to the bathroom, holding onto fixed furniture to move through the cabin if we had to move.

When it was safer to move around the cabin, I took this video of the rough seas, this was much calmer than at night when it was too dark for video and unsafe to open the door.

…he decided to move towards Kaho’olawe the uninhabited, no go island!!

In the morning, we could feel the ship moving in the storm and things started to calm down a bit. The captain came on the loudspeaker and we learned the anchor line had snapped. The captain didn't feel it was safe to move the ship in the dark, but at dawn he decided to move towards Kaho’olawe the uninhabited, no go island!!

A rough night led to a snapped anchor, but we were in safe hands with a competent and capable captain and crew!

What, you've never heard of Kaho’olawe Island?! Well, there's a reason for that! During WWII the uninhabited island of Kaho'olawe was used for target practice. There is unexploded ordinance all over the island and in the water around the island. The Coast Guard determined that both the island and a large area around it are off limits to boats anchoring or landings because of the possibility of unexploded ordinance on the island or in the water. While learning about all the islands in this area, we were told that Kaho’olawe island is known as the “no go” island and we stayed far away from it during our explorations in the water snorkeling or kayaking.

Kaho’olawe Island…the “NO GO” island- where we went!!

It also happened to be one of the only places we could go to avoid the wind and high water, because of the direction of the storm. After consultation with the CG, it was decided that Safari Explorer could go there, since there was no anchor to drop, thus no danger to the ship and passengers.

Captain made an announcement for us to continue to stay in our cabins and preferably, safely in our beds, while the storm continued. The captain ensured us that because we didn’t have an anchor, we would be safe! His plan was to move the ship into the lee of an island and trawl slowly in calmer waters so the crew could get up and prepare breakfast and we could regroup.

Around 9:30 AM, the captain had moved the ship to calmer waters and announced anyone who felt well enough could come down to breakfast and anyone who wasn't feeling well could remain in their cabin and crew would be around to check on them, provide foo or medicine, any clean up needed.

A half an hour later, every passenger came down to breakfast. Many described a rough night, but they all showed up! We felt grateful we had not felt sick during the storm and we were encouraged that we might be ok on our next expedition cruise in Antarctica where rough waters can be expected!

Our Captain and Expedition Guide share news of our plans, their positive can do attitudes and competence allowed us to enjoy the unexpected adventure and we never felt unsafe!

The captain … said we were a “salty group” to endure the night we had and still show up for breakfast…

The captain took our photo because he said we were a “salty group” to endure the night we had and still show up for breakfast, and he wanted to send a photo to his son! He briefed us on what had happened. When the anchor snapped, he dropped a pin so he could recover the anchor later (which was in relatively shallow water)

The following day, a diver was hired to recover the anchor.

Just as in Alaska, lose an anchor...find whales!!

Humpback whale breaching (photo by KCD)

This time the ship were able to move, so despite canceled morning plans, we went whale watching and had our first sighting of “charismatic mega fauna” ! We found a group of humpbacks breaching and then later a mother and a calf.

A humpback whale displays flapping flipper behavior much to the delight of the passengers!

Watching a calf is always rewarding- especially since they surface so frequently! We enjoyed watching the mother whale guide her baby.

Blow holes of the mother and her calf!

The final treat for us was seeing the baby whale spy hop to check as out as we were on deck with our cameras to check him out!

We ended our dramatic time in Maui with an anchor recovered, amazing whale sightings and with an outside bar on the top deck. We were also rewarded with an amazing Hawaiian sunset- just like the LAST time we lost an anchor!